"My joy comes from my kids," Aviles said during the season. "I have three girls and a boy on the way. I enjoy just seeing them happy. It makes me happy. That's what you want to do as a parent, you want your kids to be happy. You don't want to see them crying. You want to see them always laughing and joking. When they're having a good time, I'm excited."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In addition to the wear and tear and the peaks and valleys of a mentally exhausting 162-game schedule, Mike Aviles was handed an unthinkable hardship during the 2015 season.
As his 4-year-old daughter underwent treatment for leukemia, Aviles split his time between being by her side and being on the baseball diamond. Of course, the well-being of Adriana, who was diagnosed with the ailment in May, was his chief priority. Aviles, though, still managed to appear in 98 games for the Indians.
He found comfort and support on the field and in conversations or swift exchanges with teammates and opponents. He discovered backing and encouragement in letters and tweets from fans and strangers.
Despite everything Aviles endured in 2015, the veteran infielder never made excuses. He never dodged reporters. He never shied away from opening up about his situation or from speaking from his heart.
"My joy comes from my kids," Aviles said during the season. "I have three girls and a boy on the way. I enjoy just seeing them happy. It makes me happy. That's what you want to do as a parent, you want your kids to be happy. You don't want to see them crying. You want to see them always laughing and joking. When they're having a good time, I'm excited."
For all of that, Aviles was named the recipient of the Steve Olin-Frank Gibbons Good Guy Award by the Cleveland chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Manager Terry Francona (last year's winner), pitching coach Mickey Callaway, reliever Cody Allen and second baseman Jason Kipnis were also nominated.
Aviles, a free agent, will receive a plaque from the BBWAA next season. The honor is awarded to the player or member of the Indians staff who is most cooperative, exhibits professional behavior and understands the media's role.
"At first, I thought I was going to have to stop playing for the year and figure everything out at home," he said. "Between the support I was able to get here from the front office, the team, the coaching staff, everybody, it made it really easy for me and my wife to sit down and think about what we needed to do as far as a family, what was going to be best for the family overall.
"Fortunately enough, I was able to come back and they didn't pressure me to come back. It was, 'Hey, take your time. We know you're dealing with things. Sometimes life is more important than other things.'"
Following his daughter's diagnosis, Aviles stepped away from the team for nearly two weeks. When he returned, his teammates and coaches started to buzz or shave their heads in support of Adriana, who lost her hair from chemotherapy treatments. Eventually, just about every player, coach and front-office member sported a hairless look. Aviles himself buzzed the head of Tribe owner Paul Dolan in the home dugout one morning. The Indians even took a group photo at Progressive Field to spread awareness. Each individual wore a bright orange T-shirt that read "Team Adriana."
"Sometimes some things happen that are bigger than the game," Aviles said. "Life happens. When things like that happen, you tend to see everybody in the sport gather around and come together. It just shows you how tight-knit we are in baseball."
That was never more apparent than when the Indians ventured to the Bronx for a four-game series against the Yankees in August. During Jorge Posada's Yankees Hall of Fame induction speech, the longtime catcher mentioned Aviles and his family.
"I want to take this opportunity to ask everyone to wish Mike Aviles, that is here today with the Indians," Posada said, "all the best with his daughter, Adriana's recovery. My wish for you and your family is all the health in the world."
Aviles was moved. He spoke at length the next day with cleveland.com and MLB.com about the gesture and about all of the support he had received throughout the season.
"In all honesty, it put a pit in my throat," Aviles said. "It was kind of a double-edged sword. I was excited to hear it, but I was kind of like, 'Man, why'd you do this to me right now? I've got a pit in my throat and I borderline might have to step away from the dugout to go let some tears out.'
"Luckily, I had glasses on. Obviously, my eyes, they welled up with some tears. It just makes you think about the whole situation and it just shows you other people are out there and they think about everything going on. He's a high-character guy. He definitely stepped up even way higher in my book, when he was already high in my book anyway."
A week earlier, Adriana and her twin sister, Maiya, tossed out ceremonial first pitches before a game at Progressive Field. Aviles crouched behind home plate and hauled in each heave.
"They had an absolute blast," Aviles said. "Running around. Going crazy. They got excited. Like, when she saw herself on the scoreboard, she was like, 'I'm on the TV!' They both still talk about it like, 'Remember that time at the game when I was on the big TV there?' I'm like, 'Yep, I remember.' When you're four years old and you're young like that, I don't think they realize they were on the baseball field, a Major League Baseball field, throwing a pitch out in front of all those fans and things like that.
"They talked about it later that night. When I went to see them after the game, we were leaving, and my wife was like 'They don't want to calm down. They have been non-stop running around. They haven't even had too much sugar.' I was like, 'Yeah, that's because they're over-excited. I know that feeling. I get the same way. I get over-excited and I can't calm down. They thoroughly enjoyed it and I know it's something that, with the way video is now, it's something that we'll always be able to show them and they'll always remember."
Aviles twice spent time on the league's family medical emergency list as Adriana received treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. Toward the end of the season, Aviles' wife and children returned to their home in Santa Clara, Utah. There, Adriana has continued her treatment for what she called "sicky bugs." Aviles rejoined his family at the end of the season.
"If you really think about it, guys that are around here, you kind of get this sense of sometimes you feel like you're invincible," Aviles said in late August. "You feel like no one can touch you, no one can touch your family and you're on top of the world. It's kind of the way professional sports makes you feel. Everything's kind of given to you. I don't want to say you don't work for anything, because you do work a lot for it, but people cater to you when you're in baseball, football, basketball. It's just the way it is. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. It just happens that way.
"So, you kind of sometimes get a feeling of being invincible. And sometimes, when something like this happens, it shows you you're not a machine. It shows you anything can happen to anybody, that things don't just happen to people who are less fortunate. It just makes you put it into perspective -- life. In all honesty, I've had a very big grasp on life the last year. I definitely have. I'm definitely learning to enjoy every single day, more so than I already did. I'm definitely learning to enjoy every second I get with my family."
